Emergency Department Expansion Phase 2

Far Rockaway, New York, September 16, 2020 — St. John’s Episcopal Hospital (SJEH) has completed the second phase of construction on its emergency department expansion project. The emergency department has increased in size from approximately 10,000-square-feet to 21,000-square-feet, and features 18 private treatment rooms; state-of-the-art equipment including a technologically advanced CT scanner that provides detailed images to help diagnose disease and evaluate injuries; negative pressure rooms that help prevent the spread of airborne diseases such as COVID-19 and the flu; digital blood pressure monitors; and more.

The hospital’s original emergency department was built to serve 10,000 patient visits per year when the current visit volume is approximately 49,000 per year. The expansion enhances the hospital’s ability to meet current patient volume demands.

“This emergency department allows us to treat patients efficiently and safely,” said Teddy Lee, DO, Chairman of the Emergency Department. “We are witnessing the emergency department of the future, but instead of tomorrow, that future is a reality today at St. John’s.”

In 2012, SJEH became the only hospital and emergency department located in the Rockaway peninsula of Queens, New York when its neighbor, Peninsula Hospital, closed. The hospital serves the 148,000 residents of the Rockaways, and the residents of the Five Towns section of Nassau County, Long Island. The number of residents in the Rockaways is expected to increase rapidly in the near future as a result of New York City’s recent investment in housing infrastructure in Far Rockaway.

Recognizing the need for the expansion and enhancement of the emergency department to best suit the needs of the growing public, in 2015 the hospital applied for and was awarded a $10.151 million grant from the New York State Department of Health. The initiative is one of several in which the hospital has embarked on under its board of trustees, and the vision and leadership of Chief Executive Officer, Jerry Walsh, who joined the organization in late 2015.

“We are constantly evaluating the health care needs of the communities we serve so that we make sure that we are able to provide necessary services,” Walsh said. “Our patients and community members depend on us to provide excellent health care, and that is what we intend to continue to do.”

In addition to the emergency department project, the hospital is opening an outpatient facility at 105-38 Rockaway Beach Boulevard. At this location, primary care, dermatology, endocrinology, and behavioral health services will be available this December. Cardiology, general surgery, neurology, and vascular surgery will be available in Spring of 2021; and the hospital’s Women’s Health Center will open at the location in Fall of 2021, and will feature OB-GYN, 3D mammography, behavioral health, imaging, breast surgery, gynecology/oncology, maternal fetal medicine, nutrition, and urogynecology.

Additionally, in partnership with Ross University, the hospital is constructing a building on Plainview Avenue that will contain various outpatient services and is projected to open in 2021. The new building is currently referred to as the Teaching Center and will feature a breast clinic; audiology; cardiac and cardiothoracic care; dermatology; ear, nose and throat; endocrinology; hematology; neurology; OB-GYN; oncology; orthopedic; podiatry; and pulmonary and vascular treatment. Medical residents will also have access to four examination simulation laboratories, two general simulation labs, a large multi-use simulation lab, a simulation operating room and a multi-use auditorium.